Automatic letter-balance.



No. 674,206. Pafemdlnay I4, 19m; c. ne JAmscH.

AUTOMATIC LETTER BALANCE.

(Application led Apr. 26, 1900.)

(o Model.)

1u: Norms vnznsvcc. momuma.. fummo-rou. n. c.

Patented May I4, l90l.

y J. l).` DE JANISCH. AUTOMATIC LETTER BALANCE.

v (Application Bled Apu 26, 1900.\

`(No Model.) 2 Sheets.-Sheet 2.

A ifesses.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH CHARLES DE JANISCH, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

AUTOMATIC LETTER-BALANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,206, dated May 14,1901.

Application filed April 26 1900.

To a/ZZ whom t mld/y concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH CHARLES DE JANsoH, gentleman, residing at 121Avenue des Champs Elyses, Paris, in the Republic of France, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Letter-Poises, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a letter-poise or letter-weighing apparatus,showing at once the required stamp or amount of postage of a letter orother mail-matter in general.

The principle on which the apparatus is constructed consists ineffecting automatically a series of weighing'operations by means of aseries of weights corresponding each. to a unit charge or load placedvin the weighing-pan of the apparatus, the said weights being socombined with an oscillating lever that the load put upon the saidweighing-pan causes the successive rising of the weights until the beamof the apparatus shall be in equipoise, such equipoise taking place whenthe charge or load in the pan is comprised between the total weight ofthe uplifted Weights and the said total weight increased bya unit chargeor load. In this manner whole valuations can be automaticallyobtained-that is to say, without any fraction of the unit or standardadopted as required by the postoffice.

When the weighing-pan of the apparatus receives a charge or load tobeweighed and moves downward, its natural acceleration under the action ofgravity is impeded by the increasing Acharge of the weights uplifted bythe beam of the apparatus, and finally equipoise is reached without anyoscillation through the resistance of a last weight which the beam isunable to lift up. The indications to be given by the letter-poise orletterweigher are thus supplied at once.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of aletter-weigher, partly in section, on the axial line of the same. Fig. 2is a plan view, Fig. 3 is a side View, and Fig. 4 is a detail view, of aknife-edge oscillatory device.

A pan a, intended to Vreceive the letters, is supported by rods b on abeam c. The said pan may be in the form of a cradle having open sides,narrower and nearer together at Serial No. 14,407. (No model.)

the bottom than at the top, where the said sides are rounded off. Onaccount of this particular shape of the pan the letters can only beweighed edge wise and approximately in the axial line of thecradle-shaped fan, the indications to be given by the apparatus thus notbeing liable to be impaired by any wrong or abnormal position of thearticles to be weighed. The two rods b are fixed to a crosspiece u,resting on one of the knife-edges p of the beam c, Fig. 4:. The saidbeam c oscillates on a knife-edge e, carried by a fixed column o.

In order to hold the rods b in a vertical direction, I may iix below thecross-piece u an arm y, connected by a pitman d with a suitable wrist f,integral with the support o, so that the beam c, the arm y, the pitmand, and the fixed column fo form a parallelogram, the sides of which arepivoted together.

The end of the beam c opposed to the scale d carries, by means of aknife-edge p, a rod g, hanging freely down into and through the centerof the weighing-weights h h2 h5, &c., and carrying at its lower end acomic-shaped piece i, intended to lift up the said weights. The latterconsist of a series of rings each of the same weight, hollow, havingconic sides upwardly directed toward an imaginary apex and capable oftelescopiug into each other. When at rest, all the said rings h' h2 h3,&o., are supported one above another by the ledges or steps of asuitably-shaped cup j. The rings or weights are arranged eccentricallywith respect to each other and to the normal position of the lifter fi,so that each weight will be engaged centrally and evenly as the lifterswings outwardly in its upward movement, since the suspension-point p ofthe lifter-rod g moves in the arc of a circle the center of which is atthe knife-edge e.- One end of the beam c carries a light panel k, curvedin the arc of a circle and the inscriptions on which can be seen fromthe outside through an opening or window m in the casing n of theapparatus.

The several parts of the apparatus are so Weighted that when at rest andno letter or other matter being on the pan a the conic piece c' willrest on the bottom of the cupj and exert on the same a downward pressureequal to the units-weight of the Weights h h2 IOO h3, &c., or fifteengrams, for example.l The panel la then shows at the opening m the iig'-ures 0.15 (fifteen centimes) and 0.25, (twenty-tive centimes,) therespective postage rates for home and foreign letters up to fteen gramsin the countries forming the postal union. The said panel lo is alsoprovided with two columns of figures, 0.15, (fifteen centimes,) 0.30,(thirty centiines,) 0.45, (forty-five centimes,) &c., on the left and0.25, (twenty-five centimes,) 0.50, (fifty centimes,) 0.75,(seventy-five centimes,) &c., on .the right, corresponding to the ratesof postage for letters up to fifteen grams, from lifteen to thirtygrams, from thirty to forty-five grams, and so on, the rows of vfigurescorresponding, respectively, to the different positions of equipoise thebeam of the apparatus is capable of taking. When a charge or. load underfteen grams is put into the pan a, there is no oscillation of the beam cand the panel lc shows the ngures 0.15 (fifteen):cent imes and 0.25,(twenty-five centimes.) For a load up to between fifteen and thirtygramsthe beam oscillates and the eonic piece 1I being lifted up entersinto the first lhollow weight h'. As the two together cannot be liftedup by a load of less than 15 2=30 grams put into the scale a the resultis that the oscillation of ,the beam ceases when the piece i comesagainst the weight h', which it v cannot lift up, and the'panel 1c thenshows at the opening m the figures 0.30 (thirty centimes) and 0.50,(fifty centimes.) For a load of sixty-two grams, for example, the piecet and the three rings h h2 hg, equal in all to a'weight of 15 4=60grams,will be thus successively liftedup one by another. Then under theeffect of the two supplementary grams of the load to be weighed the fourweights will be lifted up until they come in4 contact with the next ringh4 above, without, however, being able to uplift the latter. The

, panel k Will then show the corresponding rates of postage of 0.75(seventy-five cen.

times) and. 1.25, (one franc 'twenty-five centimes.) K The operation ofthe apparatus can be regulated to a nicety by means of the set-screws 5,placed under the casing fn, and the small adjusting-Weight o, movable inrespect to the beam c. l

The weight o may be fixed on the end of a screw-threaded rod z, screwinginto a correspondingly threaded and split end of the beam c. Screws 1,passing through the said split end, allow of clamping the rod z inposition when adjusted.

In order to prevent the rings h' h2 h3, &c., from being withdrawn fromthe cup j, there maybe fixed onto the latter by means of screws 2, oneof which may be covered by a seal 3, a ring 4, having a central'openingI smaller than the'outer diameter of the greatest of ythe saidvrings or weights.

The sensibility of the apparatus may be rendered very great by means ofafp-articular arrangement of the knife-edge suspending de-v vice shownin Fig. 4. The ends of a knifeedge piece p terminate in a point in linewith.

the oscillating edge, and the said points are held laterally without anypressure by pieces q, fixed to the support or table u of the knife-Vedge piece. This mode of lateralguide-'points vgives much les's frictionthan the at guidesurfaces usually used.

In the above-describedform of' my invention the pitman d, combined inthe form of a pivoted parallelogram with the beam c, the rod y, and thecolumn fu, has for. its purpose to hold the rods b in a verticaldirection. vThe sameA result may be obtained in any other suitablemanner, andvarious modifications may be made without departing from thena'- ture of my invention. Y

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. Ascale comprising a beam provided with `n1eans forcarrying the article to be weighed,

a series of supported annnlar weights arranged eccentrically to eachother and adapted to engage each other successively when lifted, and alifter adapted to engage the vl'owermost weight and extendingeccentrically through the annular weights said lifter being connectedwith 'the beam to rise there'- with as the beam swings under theinliuence of the load. v

2. A scale comprising a fulcrumed beam having at one side of its fulcrummeans for carrying aA load, a lifter pivotally suspended from the beamat the other side vof its fulcrum, a support located adjacent to thelifter and provided, above the normal position of the same, with asteppedseries of annular ledges arranged eccentrically with respect tothe normal position of the lifter, Va cover located at the topof saidsupport and provided with an aperture through-Which passes theconnection of the lifter with the beam, and annular weights resting onsaid ledges and 'con'- structed to be raised successively upon therising of the lifter.

3. Ascale comprising a beam provided with means for carrying the articleto be weighed, a lifter arranged to rise with the beam as the latterswings under the iniuence of the load, and a series of supported annularweights disposed eccentrically with respect to each other and to thenormal position of the lifter and adapted t'o be raised oi their supportsuccessively by the rising of the lifter, said weights being tapereddownwardly 'so that they will become nested as they' rise.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. JOSEPH CHARLES DE JANISCH. Witnesses:

CAMILLE BLT'R'Y, EUGENE WATTU.

IOO

